Amorphous carbon films were prepared on glass substrates without an interlayer. The AlN and TiN films were deposited on Si substrates. Optical emission spectroscopy was used to analyze plasma composition. The coating structure was analyzed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The thickness of films was measured by scanning electron microscopy and profilometry. The TiN hardness was analyzed by microhardness test method and confirmed by nanoindentation analysis.

Adherent amorphous carbon coating deposition process was transferred from RHCPJ to the M-M linear hollow cathode. Utilizing the latter plasma source, it was found that thick and adherent amorphous carbon coatings can be deposited in a range of 0.25% to 0.5% of C2H2 in Ar at constant a deposition pressure of 0.3 Torr and 1200 W of RF power. Deposition rates of 0.2 μm/min and 0.375 μm/min respectively were reached. Self-delaminating, thick (50 μm) amorphous carbon films can be deposited at a deposition rate of 2.5 μm/min at 2% C2H2. A non-linear relation was observed between the deposition rate and the C2H2 content.